Climate-induced migration poses security risks for Bangladesh, says Momen

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has warned that climate-induced migration poses grave security risks that may go beyond national borders.

“We remain sensitised to the fact that climate-induced forced migration can pose serious security risks with spill-over effects beyond national borders,” he said seeking united and urgent action on climate migration.

Momen was speaking at a policy dialogue on “Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change: Towards a Common Narrative and Action Pathway” held at the Foreign Service Academy.

The event aimed at bringing together all stakeholders for identifying potential avenues for Bangladesh to contribute further to advance the global agenda on climate change-migration nexus in the lead-up to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November this year, reports UNB.

It was jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The dialogue served as a forum to voice the different perspectives from the government, civil society, private sector, and international community, as well as the media.

During the last COP26 in Glasgow, Momen said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged for a global sharing of responsibility for climate migrants, displaced by sea-level rise, salinity increase, river erosion, floods, and draughts.

As a champion country of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM), the foreign minister said, Bangladesh believes that the plight of millions of climate induced migrants must be placed at the centre of migration and climate change discourses. including in a gender-responsive and child-sensitive manner.

Overall, the number of Bangladeshis displaced by the impacts of climate change could reach 13.3 million by 2050, making it the country’s number-one driver of internal migration, according to the World Bank.

Such displacement, Momen said, is creating a heavy burden on Dhaka and other major cities of the country.

On top of that, Bangladesh is hosting 1.2 million forcibly displaced Rohingya from Myanmar at the cost of massive environmental loss and ecological damage in Cox’s Bazar.

“Our government is countenancing these twin displacement challenges, while also accelerating the trajectory of our socio-economic development,” he said.

Momen warned that international community cannot afford to remain oblivious to issue of climate migrants.

He said due to relentless diplomatic efforts of Bangladesh, the international community is gradually opening up to the crucial issue of creating additional financing mechanisms for climate-generated loss and damage.

Opening the policy dialogue, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen highlighted the various initiatives taken by Bangladesh to raise the issue of climate induced migrants globally.

“Vulnerable countries like Bangladesh need adequate finance and technology to respond to climate change related challenges,” he emphasized.

Chair of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and honourary president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Saber Hossain Chowdhury said concerted action on climate change mitigation and adaptation, together with inclusive development policies and embedding climate migration into policy and planning could help to address climate migration.

Caroline Dumas, Special Envoy for Migration and Climate Action, IOM, delivered a keynote address on ‘Global and Regional Consultative Processes and Policy Frameworks,’ while Golam Rabbani, Head of Secretariat, Climate Bridge Fund, shared a detailed overview on ‘Human Mobility in the Context of Sudden and Slow-Onset Events and the Adverse Effects of Climate Change in Bangladesh’.

Joining the discussion, IOM’s Deputy Director General for Operations Ugochi Daniels said IOM is strongly committed to develop solutions for people impacted by climate change, including people on the move, people seeking to move and those seeking to stay.

UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis said climate migration issues feature strongly in Bangladesh’s United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2022-2026 and the UN family remains committed to support the Government of Bangladesh to deal with the adverse effects of climate change.

Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change  Farhina Ahmed, Director, International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) Saleemul Haque, Head of the Secretariat, Platform on Disaster Displacement Atle Solberg, Programme Specialist at UN Women Dilruba Haider also spoke at the event.

At the closing session, IOM Bangladesh’s Chief of Mission Abdusattor Esoev reiterated IOM’s commitment to continue to work with the government of Bangladesh and all other key stakeholders on climate migration.